The past two months have had me thinking of Anatoli Burgoski; the unfortunate Soviet scientist who stuck his head into a live particle accelerator and swiftly received a right hook from a proton. One minute you’re fiddling with a wire and the next you’ve got a tunnel seared through your skull.

I thoroughly enjoyed working for Yipiyap in my gap year. So much so that I'd been dead set on coming back ever since I left to start my Sociology degree at the University of Manchester. Well, three years later, here I am again.

I think that children with emotional difficulties as a result of a disturbed home life are one of the most misunderstood groups of people in society. As a consequence of trauma and inadequate upbringing, these children often lack emotional control and struggle to properly understand the nature of relationships.

I worked at Yipiyap back in 2012 during my gap year. When Anne contacted me about the job, I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to do something constructive, rewarding and challenging in my year off.

My time at Yipiyap has been really amazing, and has been a real eye-opener for me. Having come straight out of a grammar school where everyone is in their own little bubble, I have learnt that education does not come easily to everyone.

Conservation of our closest biological relatives is an issue I find extremely important. The Bornean Orangutan is critically endangered, but due to the lack of funding from the governments of Borneo, they have only recently reached this conservation status, despite being close to extinction in the wild for over a decade.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to experience the full range of support that Yipiyap offer to schools. This has not only been a great opportunity for myself, but also for my personal development. Though primarily focused on group sessions and in-class support, I was also part of an alternative provision by catering to a student waiting for a school placement.

‘So what is your plan for next year?’ It’s quite obviously the question on everyone's lips in the last year of sixth form. My plan was always to have a gap year, but I think like most people, I was honestly spoiled for choice over what I would do for the year- caught between the temptation of laying on a beach for a year… getting some work experience… finding an internship?